6 Chapter 6

Jean stood before the council, watching them with worry in his eyes. They had called him here, the council, consisting of four yemerey that sat above everyone with their domineering bodies, four yemeru that sat on elevated pedestals that rose up to half the height of the yemerey and four yemephu that sat on pedestals a little lower.

Tree branches stretched out above them providing them with cover from the hot sun while Jean stood out in the hot sun waiting for them to speak first. The elders watched him carefully before the first elder spoke. It was a yemephu with a slightly shorter stature than the rest, it had incredibly sharp eyes and seemed to see through Jean. He shivered.

\\ "Young yemephu do you possess a name?" \\ the yemephu asked.

Jean nodded his head.

\\ "The council would like to know your given name. Please speak it loud enough for us all to hear." \\

\\ "Jean, sir!" \\ He replied with as much volume as he could muster.

The yemephu that asked the question nodded before moving unto the next question. \\ "And who gave you this name Mr. Jean?" \\

That question almost made Jean to hesitate. He knew if he answered this question wrongly, he would end up in a lot of trouble. So instead he chose to lie.

\\ "My parents gave me the name." \\ Jean said with enough confidence to convince the average individual. Immediately the words left his mouth Jean felt an incredibly strong mental force wash over him and Jean frowned. The elder only nodded his head and smiled.

\\ "Mr. Jean," \\ the yemephu began, \\ "We the members of the council have reason to believe that you have been colluding with an extremely vicious and cunning 7th hell demon. Out of fear of the safety of the fair citizens of our race that live within this area we have brought you here for punishment, but because as far as we can see, you are also a member of this race we shall offer you one singular chance to defend yourself before we reveal to you the concessions the council has come to. Now Mr. Jean, what do you have to say for yourself?" \\

\\ "I'm sorry Mr. Council Man but I am not aware of any such demon existing in the area." \\ Jean replied boldly, causing one of the yemerey to snort violently, releasing winds that caused Jean's hair to whip around.

\\ "You dare lie in the presence of not just one, but four yemerey!" \\ The yemerey that snorted roared in anger. \\ "Do you think that we are like the rest of you and would not be able to discover your lie? Do you think we would not find out that that stone that lay embedded in your chest is the demon in disguise? You should be beyond grateful that we haven't killed you yet." \\

Jean was undeterred, even in the face of the anger of such a huge creature. \\ "While I do not know anything about a demon from the 7th hell attaching itself to me, I do know that this rock attached to my chest is the only person who has ever really associated with me without any form of prejudice. It was in fact this so-called demon that gave me a name. And while I apologise to the council for hiding this truth, I did it to protect someone dear to me and for that I can never be ashamed." \\

The council men looked at themselves for a moment before they turned back to him.

\\ "As you have spoken," \\ the yemephu said, \\ "So we hope it will be when we question it. I hope you don't mind if we intrude a bit?" \\

Jean almost choked on his surprise. They had disregarded his consent before, when they were checking if he was lying before, yet now they acted like angels. Jean shrugged inwardly and consented to it.

Immediately after the same yemephu that had questioned him spoke again, but this time his mouth did not move.

\\ 'Demon!' \\ he cried out without moving his mouth, \\ 'State your known name!' \\

They waited for a reply but they got none.

\\ 'Demon,' \\ the yemerey that had spoken called out \\ 'Do you think that by keeping silent you'll be able to escape our detection. Speak now before I strike out against you!'\\

Still they got no response. In anger the yemerey that had spoken before sent out a blast of mental energy as thick as a finger nail towards the stone that sat on Jean's chest. The moment that beam of mental energy hit the stone, a whitish film with a soft glow emerged and covered the rock, reflecting back the mental energy to the yemerey that had sent it forth.

The giant yemerey that was farthest to the left howled out in pain, causing everybody to jump. Its howl pierced the hearts of everyone who could hear it-which was practically everyone in the entire settlement-as the yemerey screamed like it was being tortured horribly.

\\ "Elder Kapha!" \\ Three of the elders that had been quiet previously screamed out.

Slowly the howls died down and Elder Kapha-although slightly injured-slowly recovered. It was at that moment that they finally heard a voice speak out. It said the most sinister words any of the elders had heard in their lives.

\\ 'That attack was quite formidable,' \\ the voice said, \\ "Who would have thought that that akram I had been cultivating as a hobby would prove to be quite formidable. Maybe I should focus on it full time.' \\

Their hearts tightened, that barrier that had been able to reflect the mental attack of a yemerey had only been something that the demon had been working on in passing, they couldn't wrap their heads around what the demon's true power could be.

\\ 'Now,' \\ the voice spoke out again, \\ 'Let's move unto the next problem. Who in God's name attacked me?' \\